How to Overcome Rejection as You Seek Gallery Representation

Let’s just be frank – as an artist trying to get your art out to the world and into galleries, you are going to run into some rejection. Few artists have found success in the art world without first enduring failure. Not every gallery is going to see the merit of your work, and some of them are going to be pretty forthright in telling you what’s wrong with it. You’re going to have to face some “no’s” to get to that much anticipated “yes.”

As an artist, you would be well served to begin developing a thick skin. Don’t let criticism or rejection stop you from pursuing your passion. Remember, any opinion given by a gallery owner or director is just that, an opinion.

I’ve met too many artists who, after facing two or three harsh rejections, have retreated to their studios where they will hide in their work for months or even years before venturing out into the world again. “I just need to create more work and get a little better before I’m ready to go back out there,” they might say.

If you are creating the best work you can, and if you’ve prepared yourself following the principles I’ve been laying out over the last several months in this course, you are ready for gallery representation. Don’t be afraid to pursue it.

There are many ways to increase your odds for success and reduce the likelihood of rejection (may I humbly suggest reading or rereading “Starving” to Successful), but some level of rejection is inevitable. I would like to spend just a minute sharing some quick tips on how to prepare for and overcome the inevitable rejection you will face as you share your art with the world. These are tips that have helped me when I face rejection with clients, but they will also help you overcome rejection as you attempt to show your work to galleries.

Tips for Overcoming Rejection

1. Know the odds. It sounds counter intuitive, but knowing that most attempts to find gallery representation are going to fail, can help you feel less dejected when a gallery says “no thanks!” The number of rejections you are going to face before being accepted can vary depending on your style of work, your personality, your preparation and any number of other factors, but if you tell yourself to expect 20 rejections before you have success, each rejection will feel like a step down the road to success, instead of a stinging defeat.

2. Force yourself to keep going. As you prepare to approach galleries, make a list of galleries that are possibilities and commit to approach all of them, no matter what happens. It’s unlikely the first gallery you approach will accept your work, so make sure you have a plan b, a plan c and so on. As soon as one gallery let’s you know they’re not interested, roll on to the next one.

3. Don’t take rejection personally. Even though some gallery owners may feel a need to reject you in a very personal way, criticizing you and your work, there’s no need to take the rejection to heart.

4. Talk to other artists and learn how they’ve overcome rejection. It’s very easy to feel like you’re the only artist who’s ever been rejected so resoundingly. Talking to other artists about their experience can help you realize you are far from alone. Start by reading the comments below!

We all fear rejection, but as you gain experience and wisdom in the art business, you’ll come to see that rejection is just another part of the process of building a successful art career.

Help an Artist – Share your Experiences!

Have you encountered a particularly harsh rejection from a gallery? How did you overcome it? What have you done to develop a thicker skin in the face of rejection? Share your experience and thoughts in the comments below.

Do you go back to a gallery that’s given you an incredibly . . . generic (i.e. “boilerplate”) rejection if your style has developed significantly since then? How long to you wait before you re-approach a gallery?

Definitely Wendy. You can confidently re-approach a gallery after 3-4 months. If it truly was a boilerplate, they won’t likely remember that they’ve seen your work. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by being persistent.

Hello Jason!
I have been a professional artist for a very long time and I’ve known a great many other artists personally and professionally. We almost all are private, sensitive people and our art is truly our feelings, emotions and passions. So to put ourselves out there is a big leap of faith and even after many years sometimes extremely hard to do. Several years ago I had a counselor tell me that it literally feels like stepping off a cliff. And it does too.
I have been one of those that have retreated for long periods of time after the gallery search did not go well.

Over time I have become more confident in my talent and feel like there is the right time and the right place for almost everything in life, including finding the right gallery. That is something to keep in mind when the rejections start coming in.
Also I remind myself of the story of Thomas Edison and his invention of the lightbulb. He was asked by a reporter why he kept trying after failing 1,000 times. Edison replied, “I haven’t failed 1,000 times. I just eliminated 1,000 things that didn’t work”. He went on to huge success with his inventing career.

I now have a saying that I tell myself and I even shared it with a friend just a few days ago. And it simply this, ‘If I don’t ask, I already have a no, so I have nothing to lose by asking’.
So my fellow artists, believe in yourself and your abilities and picture yourself on a path walking forward. Towards your own success, what ever that may be.

I approached a gallery back when I was doing a lot of different kinds of work and an owner told me that I was not a true artist until I found a single subject matter to focus on.
Hearing that I was not a ‘true’ artist was quite the blow, and really made me question myself for a long time after that [Why should I bother? There’s always going to be great artists out there, I don’t stack up. Etc etc etc.] And I stopped making art. And got depressed and ate ice cream [ha!]. And then I realized I was depressed because I was not making art and that if you took everything away from me, the one thing I would do is to continue to find a way to make art…thus, I am a true artist. It’s in my bones. And as much as I still sting at hearing those words of the gallery owner in my head, and I do think he was a jerk for saying it, I also [NOW] understand WHY he said it: He’s a gallery owner so the artists he represents need to have some sort of consistency [Thank you Jason for explaining all of that to us – I get it!]. And to my chagrin, I am focused on a single subject now [though it’s not a limiting subject, hallelujah!]. Time…it’s a good thing.

I’ve heard it all from “Your work is not sophisticated enough for what we are looking for” to “You’re work is too sophisticated for us.” There’s even the classic, “Could you possibly paint boats in harbors?…..beavers building dams?….elk in the forest? ” And let us not forget, “My daughter paints like this too! She’s four years old.” When one decides to be an artist, be prepared for ‘rejection’ to become your middle name.

~ The repeated conversations I receive are – We Like Your Work – ‘BUT ‘- theres issues with ‘wall space’ . . . That kind of answers the question even though I may return later and hear the same old ‘same old’ . . .

What a timely article, as I have entered the “foray”. In fact I have just gotten started.
I have been creating, and submitting my art to various venues from magazine illustration to juried shows for many years. I don’t remember when it became no longer personal, to be rejected. Hence I have become very thick skinned. I have also developed an absolute faith in my abilities as an artist. I know I can only improve as I continue to produce work.
Anything worth doing, worth having takes time…there is nothing instantaneous about creating that master-piece, finding that gallery or winning accolades in that prestigious show. This is something artists must commit to for the long haul. It is a lifetime.
If it takes 6 months, 8 months, a year of concerted, diligent gallery searches, that is a drop in a bucket compared to how long an artist has devoted themselves to honing his/her craft. And rejection is a part of it. It is not personal, as gallery operations are a business. The primary concern of any business is to successful. The type of art an artist produces may not be what the gallery markets….I have been told that. There is also the aspect that galleries are not taking on any new artists….I have been told that.
A relative put it to me in a personal email I read just today….”must sift through a lot of straw to find the gold”.
And success falls to the determined, in this pursuit.

I got a rejection response from a local gallery owner that said she had a list of area artists she was interested in and I was definitely not on her list. My thought at the time was to email her back and say I have a list of preferred galleries I’d like to work with professionally and yours is off my list. I sent in my mind only. While I have not found representation yet, I think of it like fishing. Sometimes when the timing is good and you have the right bait on your line you can catch a good one. Patience and persistence.

Also, to add to the above, each gallery has their own criteria and requirements for the submission process. Find out what they are and adhere to them….I have encountered everything form a few images up-loaded in an email to portfolios on CD’s, to Friday night (only) personal visits to a gallery, with portfolio in hand.
Dufus me, I submitted to one gallery that states on their website: “NO Submissions”. I read that after the fact.
I actually got a very polite response….They were accepting no more artists and wished me luck in my gallery search.
This is important, however….one gallery requests DO Not send emails; they will be deleted.

I’m just starting to look at galleries, so have so far, so not much experience here. In my past profession, however, I helped laid off workers find new employment in very challenging economic times. Rejection was rampant! I decided to tell them that they need to collect their “no’s” before they’ll get a “yes.” I’m sure this applies to getting gallery representation. So, every time you get a “no,” celebrate – Yeah, I’m one “no” closer to a yes!!”

I have had rejections, although not particularly harsh ones. Having said that, when starting out even the most polite rejections can sting badly! These days I don’t see it any different than taking other chances, asking a woman out on a date, before I committed to being an artist, I got rejected at job interviews etc. I grew a thick skin a long time ago, rejection is part of life & just like everything else, we can get much better at dealing with it. As one door shuts, another door opens & that door maybe the best door that has ever opened for you & if you had have walked through an earlier door, you would have never found it…

I’ve had both rejections and invitations in the same year. Can’t take rejections personally.
When an artist friend was told by her gallery owner that they were no longer selling her type of work, I drove the artist to the gallery to pick up her paintings and suggested we follow up a sad ordeal by going out to lunch. We carefully packed about 7 works in my car and headed out to eat.
After lunch, we decided to walk around the village (Kennebunkport) and we stopped in a gallery that showed work similar to my friend’s. This other gallery was a half mile from the one she just left
Long story short, I showed her work to the second gallery owner and he took the whole car full of paintings. She continued to show there for another decade.
Just goes to say that while one gallery stops selling work, another in the same town sells it well! It’s not personal.

Great column as always. We got what we thought was great response, the gallery cleared their schedule to meet with us on very short notice after emailing them a couple of samples. After our meeting, asked for some time to discuss and think it over, then emailed with how much they liked our stuff. Requested sizes and prices which we sent and now nothing for couple weeks. How long should we give them, how many “did you get the materials and do you have any questions” do we send? Don’t know if this is rejection by being “ghosted!”

A week is plenty of time to allow for a follow up. It’s likely they just got busy. Since they made the effort to see your work and expressed interest, it’s likely that they will respond right away. If not, I wouldn’t hesitate to follow up by phone.

Thanks! It was an odd meeting in that one of our competitors, another photographer with very similar subject matter was there, even though he lives in another state. They invited him into our meeting (weird) and he was somewhat dismissive or acting disinterested! Very odd. We had just been rejected by two competing galleries the day before that were next door to this one.

I recommend everyone watch the movie “Founder” where Michael Keaton, who plays the founder of McDonalds, gets one door after another slammed in his face as he tries to sell milkshake machines…we can relate!

I had an unusual situation when I first showed my work to a well known gallery. They said I could come in for an interview but doubted that they would take me because “We have all the artists we need at the moment.” They asked me to send them the link to my website as a way of viewing my work. When I walked in for my appointment, the gallery manager was looking at my work on his big screen Mac. I announced myself and he swiveled around in his chair, looked me up and down and said “We will give you a contract for everything you have, for three years.” Then he sat down and mapped out my coming career with that gallery. I went out of there on Cloud Nine. Talk about putting the wind in your sails (or sales, lol). So it can happen both ways. Sometimes you just “hit” it – you get lucky. I’ve been fortunate, I guess. P.S. I rejected that gallery myself. Though highly flattered and thrilled because it gave me a lot of confidence with my work in the future, their rush to “own” me felt like I had a noose around my neck. I wasn’t ready to turn my work and my life over to one gallery at that point. I had a feeling it just wasn’t right for me, but it definitely made me feel like I had a viable future as an artist.

I am committed to number 2 in Jason’s note; Force yourself to keep going with the plan A,B and C. If I am working on a body of work that has 21 pieces, that fives me a chance to I can send an e-portfolio 7 times to the same galleries over a period of time. I had one gallery owner tell me that he is so greatful when he receives portfolios by email rather than in person.
I am concentrating on writing about my concept what I intend to do with my art each day. Over time this intention and focus gives me confidence about my finished pieces. This then gives me confidence when I get feedback from galleries because I am not waiting for approval about me or my work from the gallerist, just waiting to see if my work is a match for their particular client base.

Thanks for this blog Jason. This is very timely for me right now. I just submitted to 2 local galleries following the instructions on their website. It has been over a month and I have not received even an acknowledgement of my submission. This seems very rude to me. If I were a gallery owner I would send out an email that said “Thank you for your submission. We will be reviewing submission on (date) and will get back to you sometime after that” I even emailed a reminder with a new painting attached to one of them. I can handle rejection. But rudeness leaves a bad impression. Which leads to the question: If I am submitting to galleries in the same location how long should I wait for a response before going on to the next one? Is this rudeness on their part or just how they do business?

When approaching galleries for representation I have taken on my husband’s advice, “don’t leave anyone out”. Still now and again my greek chorus chimes in and I listen – opps! So the key for me is that I never stop working.
Also, with Jason’s business advice, I have implemented a new tracking system for gallery representation invitations. This systematic approach to tracking takes the sting out of the process and instead it becomes a game for me. I look forward to putting in the data which includes dates of follow up and responses. It also helps me to see when I need to send out my follow-up emails. Most all of my responses that were ‘not for us’ are recorded as ‘soft no’s. This tells me that I will approach these galleries later.
This takes valuable time away from making, so I do this type if query in spurts.
Right now I’m in the making phase and am loving what is happening in the studio. Plus I am selling more than I have ever, which always helps.
So when I get the blues my advice to myself is this:
Know that my work is my priority, that it is good or even great! as long as I infuse passion into my process. And it is only a matter of time before I have the right number of galleries working with me to get my incredible work into the public and selling even more.

I purchased Jason’s book Starving to Successful and used it to approach galleries. I recently left my corporate gig after a 5 year plan to do so in order to pursue my art without the demands of a day job. I am happy to say that the gallery which was at the top of my list (10 or so) in my area picked me up a week after I dropped off my portfolio which I followed to the “t” from Jason’s book, so 1 for 1 ( I believe it made a huge difference to present myself face to face with the gallery. I did not bring any work with me, just the portfolio, at first she said she didn’t have time but I could leave it with her, however, a conversation ensued nonetheless and I was able to tap her interest, she became intrigued as we chatted for a couple minutes. Good galleries know how to sell which means they usually like to talk, and that is exactly what happened even though she said didn’t have time initially!). I am sure they all won’t go that well, and I am getting ready to approach another group of galleries a little further south in some new states to hopefully pick up gallery #3. What I can share is that I have sent numerous email inquiries following their “submission” guidelines and only had one responded (positively about my work, but they wanted more contemporary work), the rest were crickets, not a word good or bad. The gallery owner who did pick me up, said it was the first time an artist walked in prepared, confident, with a well written portfolio in her 37 years! So my advice would be to follow Jason’s guidelines and if you can get in front of a gallery owner, and if your work is a fit, your odds of success are much greater. Granted many have specific submission guidelines which discourage walking in, so not sure the best strategy for those, Jason? Jason’s opening comments are spot on, being an artist of any medium (visual or otherwise) means you are going to experience failure and rejection, both in journey to create the work and to sell it, it has happened since the dawn of time! Persevere!

Michael – congratulations on establishing the relationship with the gallery! You are right that it won’t always go that well, but persistence is the only way to get there. I’ll write a post about how to work with submission guidelines as it’s more complex than I can respond to here. I will say, however, that if you are going to be in the area, it absolutely makes sense to visit those galleries with your portfolio. You never know how the conversation will go when you visit, and it’s always good to be prepared.

As a gallery owner (huon art Tasmania) one of my biggest frustrations is to have an artist turn up “out of the blue” with work and asking if I’ll take it.
My advice is – please make an appointment! You may be the 6th artist to walk into the gallery that day and that can be very tiring for a gallery owner.
I suggest an email with some examples of your work and background e.g. art awards etc. Also please know something about the gallery. Do they sell your style? If not, they may automatically say no as they know their client base and what works for the gallery.
I’m a writer as well as a gallery owner so I understand rejection but if your art is good then you will find the right gallery – good luck everyone!

As a gallery owner we have the same experience. It’s always annoying when an artist, who has never been in the gallery before, turns up out of the blue with their work and expect us to drop everything to look at it – especially when they think they are more important than the customer I’m trying to deal with! Frequently (actually most of the time) because they haven’t done their research, the work is totally unsuited to our gallery. It doesn’t matter how good the work is, each gallery normally has a unique selling point (USP) – ours is contemporary modern art so your traditional cottage scene or butterflies in a heart shape will not be accepted by us, though the gallery up the street will snap them up. My advice? Do your research! You will save everyone a lot of heartache!

I live in a small community. I belong to the artist cooperative gallery here, but I need to read up on shipping, as the ins and outs have me puzzled. Thanks for addressing some of that. A few years back, I took a trip to Maui, and though I took business cards and my portfolio, I was politely declined by all four galleries. One of them I figured was out of my league, but the very gracious owner sat down and chatted with me about his artists, how they approached him, and his passion for art. It was truly a good experience.

Great subject matter and comments from those with experience at this. So I have recently found the time to seek other market channels for my travel and landscape photography. What stops me is the concept of what to show a gallery. I have hundreds of images and a wide variety of subject matter. How do I focus this into an interesting portfolio for a gallery to consider?

You ask: Have you encountered a particularly harsh rejection from a gallery?

No, I haven’t but I’ve only applied to two galleries. One I got in and one I was rejected. Very nicely. They asked to keep my info on file. The reason for the rejection was that they had just accepted an artist whose work was too similar to mine.

The lesson I learned was not to procrastinate from fear of “not being ready yet”. I had the opportunity to apply to that galley for three years and I kept putting it off thinking I wasn’t good enough yet. How ironic that I was one month too late in applying. That’ll teach me. 🙂

Great advice from everyone, thank you xx. I really only started full time painting about 9 months ago. I have had gallery interest but the lady rejected me after leaving me hanging for about 6 months. I finally had enough of her aloof attitude (after initially being very excited) and asked directly if she wants my work or not. She also came back with a personal critique that was really unnecessary. From this I have learned that I need to pick the people I work with as much as they pick me. I will not commit to a gallery that doesn’t communicate or aren’t as enthusiastic as I am.

I work in a non-traditional medium (gourds). I am recognized as a master of my medium but there is still resistance from many galleries. They have wonderful glass, ceramic and woodturned sculptures, but my intricately designed and carved gourds are bypassed by many with the offhanded “we aren’t going in that direction” (I hate that catchall phrase). Granted, plenty of gourds are poorly done and no more than craft – but I wish gallery owners would at least be receptive enough to at least give them some consideration rather than just dismissing them without checking them out.

One has to keep a sense of humor through all this. To quote a commuter who drives the most congested freeway in the country … “Too many cars; not enough pavement.” Or, to translate that to our industry, “too many artists and not enough wall space.” Rejection is part of the landscape … get used to it.
I make a regular trip and often stop at a particular gallery en route. To my dismay it is another statistic that bit the dust. Fine gallery, great location, resident and tourist traffic, great space, fine artists …. and they just closed. It’s a clothing boutique now. A gallery can do everything absolutely right and still fail. Jason, hats off to you ….
I guess the most puzzling thing with upheaval in art today (traditional galleries or online sales) is, where is it going? What technique replaces the old? Is there any durable venue? New and trendy replaced “family owned since 1974.” One has to find stability to develop a marketing plan upon.
Remember, things change. It is unheard of to stay with a gallery for a long term career. I’ve changed often by choice, sometimes by dismissal, and neither have anything to do with my work. It’s important to understand that. An artist must assume she/he will have to hustle representation again and again.
I’m again regrouping after a three-year relationship that came to an abrupt end. Why? Corporate staffing. The new blood wants hip contemporary, not old traditional. *shrug* Am I concerned? Nah …. been through this before. 🙂

Dear Jason
Thank you so much for your articles. I have also bought your book, and the advice has been invaluable!
I am a South African artist, and my work consists primarily of digital text. My problem seems to be that the medium is too unusual. Gallery owners love my work, but it doesn’t sell easily. One gallery owner told me that this was the reason why she didn’t want to exhibit my work any longer.
At the moment I keep my eye open for, and enter, curated competitions and shows locally and abroad, so I have an impressive CV, but no money! I definitely wouldn’t be able to do art if I did not have a husband to support me. Is there anything else I could be doing?

Great article, Jason. Yes, I’ve had my share of rejections including: “your work is like something parents would say their child has painted”; “you look like you haven’t been trained as a painter”; it looks like you are using paints right out of the tube”; “it looks like you don’t know how to mix colors”. Then the anonymous rejections from juried shows, those are fun, especially after paying a non-refundable fee to have it viewed. For seven years I was blessed with a therapist whose speciality was helping creative types. The best advice he ever gave me was: “just remember, pearls before swines” ( a piece of advice Jesus gave his disciples when faced with rejection by nonbelievers). It always makes me smile when I remember him telling me that. . .

From my understanding and a search on WorldCat, this is the only candid, documentary photo book in the world on this subject.

The book is all-hand printed, original photographs. They cost about $190 each to make myself and a week to print and bind each book. I contacted roughly 225 institutions (Special collection libraries, art museum libraries, etc.) to place the book with. Out of the 225 solicitations I was able to place 13 books…about a 94% rejection rate.

And that 94% rejection rate was not for trying to sell them the books for $3500 each..it was for giving them away for free.

Well, I have tons of projects like this. I have never experienced anything else other than massive rejection with my work. But, it does not matter even if it 100% rejection. I mean, what is the option? Give up? When I get to ‘Z’ I start over back at ‘A’ and run down the list back to Z.

The A-Z thing can work for you. Take the previous example book I used. Eventually from re-soliciting 600 to 700 of the same institutions over 1-1/2 years I was able to place (donate) another dozen or so books.

Now, you may not want to give your art away for free. So, you will have to develop your own stats for solicitations for selling. But for donations, this is what I’ve experienced. And sometimes it has been as high as 100% rejection for certain projects with the solicitations in the hundreds.

Here is your list of US art galleries. Get going! They also have a list of photo galleries as well at that site.

Dear Jason,
How important is an artist’s age and personal appearance? There is a disconnect between my art and my appearance. I am older and look “Grandmotherly” but my work is experimental abstraction. When I tried to enter a competition I was told , “This is for serious artists, not for people like you!”. This was before my work was even seen. This disconnect is partially due to the fact that after Art School I stopped making art for a time when I had to work full time in another field, and when I returned to art making I decided to start over. Should I avoid any situation that requires face to face encounters? Refuse any requests for photos? Never put dates on my resume?

Liz, I would like to hear a comment from Jason and other artists about this issue too. I am also “grandmotherly”. I do think its an obstacle we have to overcome somehow. Also the rudeness you endured is just inexcusable. If we artists are expected to be on our best behavior when approaching gallery owners and art show coordinators then I think we should expect some common courtesy from them in return.

I’m planning to offer my paintings at Saatchiart.com, an online gallery that seems to sell quite a bit of artwork. You just upload your work and wait to see what happens. Saatchi might even mention you in a “Featured Collection.” If I do well at Saatchi, I’ll have something to offer a gallery — my track record! Your comments are welcome.

My sculpture work is unique and whimsical, well-priced, and individuals say that I should be in a gallery. It’s good work. But I can’t seem to get into a gallery! Well, I have “done my research” and visited all the galleries that I can drive to within a long day, on my list…as an observer. I don’t bring my art or portfolio. I can get an idea of the gallery “style”, the amount of space, the traffic, and other items on my mental list. I DO talk to the sales person or owner and I tell that I am an artist “just looking” for the best gallery to show my work. I may or may not ask for an appointment depending on a few of the suggestions in Jason’s great book.
My work is very hard to ship. I will deliver FREE to a buyer or gallery within 150 miles and reassemble it. . However, the odds of finding a good fit in a gallery or 2 in the Northern California area, that I could deliver to, are few. Then, being rejected by the 2 or 3 remaining galleries on my list, it becomes very discouraging. I make more lists, visit more distant galleries, and still have no where to show my work, except at my “member” galleries, or juried art festivals.
I have several of my sculptures setting in my studio now—again—with no galleries to re-visit. I have to think positive thoughts because I must make a living . My few sales here and there, without a permanent place to show them is, to say the least, a nightmare.

What do you suggest when an artist gets an “I really like your work. It’s contemporary and very interesting. Contact me in the future and we can talk”.? I have contacted him (A very well known artist and international gallerist name rhymes with Saniel Ginn) several times. I don’t know if he changed his mind or is just very busy. Do I push him or lay back? Not very good at either.Thanksf